In the journey of life there are many highs and lows. The ultimate test of our humanity is to see what we will actually do with the opportunities afforded to us with our time, resources, passions and emotions. Each person is born into a circumstance, a father, and a mother, a lineage of fore bearers, and possibilities of posterity. Some are given more ease and comforts than others, while some are faced with great challenges from the earliest on set of life.
Regardless of life’s stage on which you play your part, you have the opportunity to rise and shine to the occasion!
In high school, I had the opportunity to act. As a member of a Shakespearean Acting Company, called Junior Shakespeare, we performed scenes across the Salt Lake Valley, including at Utah Valley University, Murray Park, and a whole slew of libraries and special assemblies, including from Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello and the Taming of the Shrew, just to name of few.
One day I was driving my acting coach, I don’t even recall where we going. As we headed up Salt Lake City’s 4th South, just beyond 1300 East, there was an urgent need to flip a U turn…. I hesitated going into the turn lane, and traffic was moving too fast. So, I continued up the street to a safer spot. Frank interjected, “If you hesitate, you miss an opportunity.” I had totally hesitated. In this particular instance, it was no major consequence.
In life, there are many opportunities. Some opportunities come quickly and leave instantaneously, like the chance to help a mother whose child dropped toys on the floor, while at the same time carrying her precious little one.
Other opportunities are forged in the path of resistance and persistence; like my new friend Alyx who is finishing her first year of medical school, while simultaneously she is caring for her first child while her husband is serving in the military, far away for a season. The opportunity for her to provide medical care will come at great sacrifice and honor to her family.
“Sarah, if you hesitate, you miss an opportunity.”
In the season of life that I currently am in, life is so full of choices and even if I worked all day, every day from the time I wake to the time I go to bed, I could not accomplish all the tasks before me. And so, I do the best I can with the resources I have. Without the burden of guilt (because which mother isn’t reminded daily of her inadequacies…) I want to live my life without hesitation. I want to be bold in my vision, and committed to my goals, with a plan and a purpose.
I signed up for a 5K this coming month, with my sister in law Mary. I am so excited!! The truth be told, I have never run 3.whatever miles in an entire stretch. I have run-walk a lot of miles, but never run-run, all of them. Since I want to fully participate and enjoy this opportunity I dragged my little bit chubby self out the door tonight on a glorious and beautiful night! With ear buds in place, and my Pandora app set to Workout Station I am ready to go! I took the path tonight, that my husband and I walked every morning during my last pregnancy. Down into old Draper I went, feeling the burn of movement, and the heat of my lungs. I enjoyed the excruciating joy of pushing myself.
So, the end of this story is I didn’t finish the 5K last night, but I did start training. I didn’t run-run the whole thing, but I exercised my body, and it felt great! I’m not where I want to be, but I choose to act instead of wait.
